The country's largest real estate developer, DLF's, headcount was down by over 800 during 2008-09 from the year-ago period, but the company did not clarify if these employees were sacked.
According to information available in the company's website, DLF's employee count came down by 818 people to 2,882 as on March 31, 2009, from 3,700 exactly a year ago, a drop of 22.1 per cent.
Asked if the company, which is bearing the brunt of downturn in realty sector and is facing acute financial problems, had laid off people, a spokesperson told PTI: "There was no deliberate attempt to retrench our employees...People have left the organisation and went ahead for better assignments in life."
Last November, company Chairman K P Singh had sparked off a controversy when he admitted to laying off of employees though he made a U-turn later.
"We must have laid off some employees somewhere," Singh had told reporters on the sidelines of India Economic Summit on November 18, only to retract his statement two days later.
"We have not laid off anything. The lay-off could happen in future in case the demand further goes down," Singh had said at an Assocham event on November 20.
{{/usCountry}}"We have not laid off anything. The lay-off could happen in future in case the demand further goes down," Singh had said at an Assocham event on November 20.
{{/usCountry}}The DLF official, however, said the list of former employees include "a very small number of non-performers" also, but declined to give details.
Out of the current 2,882 employees, 48 per cent consist of non-technical professionals, while 40 per cent are technical professionals. The remaining 12 per cent people are non-professionals of the firm.
Asked about in which division, the workforce became lesser, the spokesperson said: "There is no specific areas, people left from across all divisions."